Posted on Apr 22, 2016
VA service dogs study for vets with PTSD questioned
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RP Members do you agree or disgree with this article?
Army veteran Joe Aguirre opens a restaurant door, then steps aside to let his golden retriever take point. "Clear," Aguirre commands, and 3-year-old Munger pivots right, left, then right again, sweeping the room for potential threats.
"He's basically looking for ... anything that would be out of the ordinary. A bag. A particular weapon. People acting erratic," says Aguirre, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after three tours of duty in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. At the cash register, Aguirre says: "Block," and the dog places himself perpendicular to his master, creating a buffer to anyone who might approach.
Before Munger, a simple outing like this would have been terrifying, if not impossible. "He's put faith back into my way of looking at society," Aguirre says.
But do the comfort and security this lovable dog provides come at the expense of true healing from PTSD? Is Munger merely preventing Aguirre from confronting his demons?
Army veteran Joe Aguirre opens a restaurant door, then steps aside to let his golden retriever take point. "Clear," Aguirre commands, and 3-year-old Munger pivots right, left, then right again, sweeping the room for potential threats.
"He's basically looking for ... anything that would be out of the ordinary. A bag. A particular weapon. People acting erratic," says Aguirre, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after three tours of duty in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. At the cash register, Aguirre says: "Block," and the dog places himself perpendicular to his master, creating a buffer to anyone who might approach.
Before Munger, a simple outing like this would have been terrifying, if not impossible. "He's put faith back into my way of looking at society," Aguirre says.
But do the comfort and security this lovable dog provides come at the expense of true healing from PTSD? Is Munger merely preventing Aguirre from confronting his demons?
VA service dogs study for vets with PTSD questioned
Posted from militarytimes.com
PTSD
Service Dogs
What Would You Do
Edited 8 y ago
Posted 8 y ago
Responses: 14
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Let's see if I understand this correctly. Using a dog as a "crutch" until the veterans finally accepts the premise that boogeymen aren't waiting around every corner is not therapeutic? Well, how about having people with broken legs throw away their crutches. Don't crutches prevent them from learning to cope with broken bones?
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COL Ted Mc
CPT Jack Durish - Captain; My concern is that, once the crutches have been issued, the surgery to repair the broken leg will be cancelled.
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AS a veteran with a service dog, and another in training, I have to say that mine has been invaluable. Rufus, and soon Gracie, have given me back a calmness at times in my life that sometimes I didn't think possible. To say that they (dogs) are not helpful, is insane and has been proven to work, time after time.
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COL Mikel J. Burroughs
PO1 Michael Fullmer Thaks for sharing - I agree with you. Therapy with Dogs and Horses has proven to be effective mothods of dealing with PTSD, so why not have them available. It is different for each individual. We have a proven method of helping veterans as will in Sponsor a Life with Virtual 3D Interactive Immersive peer-to-peer support. Not all methods fit all individuals - it's a matter of preference and what is working. There are lot of individuals that say taking an individual back through the trauma doesn't work either and some say it does. Who cares? If one method is working for any indivdual with PTSD to get their life back on track then I'm for it! Just my opinion!
http://www.sponsoravet.life
http://www.sponsoravet.life
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This sounds like a program that actually works, that benefits the veteran, and I have no idea why anyone would argue that the animals become enablers of the veteran's paranoia. Having a trained dog that bonds with the individual veteran is probably the recuperative formulae. Companionship is what everyone craves. Psychologists that think that this program might harm the veteran's psyche through avoidance of addressing real fears ignore the fact that the heroes get to mingle in society and build new coping skills as safety is stressed and a real animal is there to help. I believe this to be a great program that needs full funding and needs to be made available to everyone that needs it.
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TSgt William Meyer
My dog is a rescue from a kill shelter in another state and her training was provided by a private non for profit group .... no tax payer dollars there.
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TSgt William Meyer
Sgt Gus Laskaris - I can only speak for myself when I say my service dog has helped me greatly in all my day to day activities and from what I've seen there are many other veterans who feel the same way as I do.
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1SG James Lampe
You've made great points on the issue, as well as well as supporting the Veterans who have shared their own personal experiences regarding how helpful service dogs have been to them. I'm just guessing, but I'll bet that there are many other Veterans who find support through working dogs whose voice is not heard in this forum that would also say the same. Well done!
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1SG James Lampe
SSgt Robert Marx - Very well explained and outlined in detail in favor of the use of service dogs. Your comments also speak very highly to your character, courage and integrity to respond to a rediculous assertion that a Veteran should simply "suck it up". Very admirable. Well done!
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